


Revealing

by shadowolfhunter



Series: Daniel Espinoza and The Twin Archangels of Chaos [1]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Changing Dynamics, M/M, Wings, getting it all out in the open, serious injury, unintentional Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-25 19:58:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16204604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowolfhunter/pseuds/shadowolfhunter
Summary: Dan showing up at Lucifer's penthouse after the Pierce Incident reveals a lot of things. Some of them very unexpected.





	1. The Unexpected Truth of It

Dan Espinoza really isn’t sure exactly why he’s doing this, only that Chloe won’t really say anything about what went down in the loft, and Lucifer is naturally conspicuous by his absence when they need his statement to corroborate what went down.

It’s not a big deal as such, the deluge of evidence pretty much confirms that Lucifer was in the fight of his life, and he was exceptionally lucky to come out of it alive. As was Chloe.

She seems strangely squirrelly, and Dan has had enough of the high drama. He is going to get Lucifer’s statement.

The first thing that strikes him as off is that when he steps into the elevator that goes to Lucifer’s penthouse, when he presses the button, a display invites him to input a code. Well, that was new. Feeling like this is all a colossal waste of his time, that he’s done with Lucifer’s drama, that Charlotte didn’t have to die, if only Lucifer had been straight with them about what he knew, Dan punches in a few numbers.

_Well, whaddya know… Chloe’s birthdate._

The doors swoosh closed, and Dan stews on his way up to the loft. 

 

The room is mostly in darkness when the elevator deposits him at Lucifer’s loft. The place has a sad depressed air about it, and Dan steps forward almost holding his breath. He doesn’t know why and that annoys him, the lounge area seems deserted at first glance, but something whitish catches his eye and he rounds the piano to get a closer look.

What he sees almost stops his breathing.

Huge wings, bedraggled, damaged, one flopped over the back of the couch, the other trailing on the floor, Lucifer’s wings, it’s all true… And Dan takes a step back.

He stands, rooted to the spot, afraid to take any step at all, as everything that has bothered him over the last three years slips out of focus and slams back into place.

Lucifer. Devil. _Danger…_

It’s all true.

Slowly the sight in front of him begins to register. The wings have taken enormous damage. They’re shredded, bloody, and it’s the blood that finally registers. In the middle of the wings, those torn up bleeding wings lies Lucifer.

The fallen archangel… Archangel… Dan’s brain’s in overdrive, lies motionless on his side. He’s shirtless, still wearing pants, but his feet are bare. He’s facing the back of the couch, so Dan can’t see his face.

_Good thing, right?!_

It’s the stillness that’s getting to Dan. The Lucifer he knows is never still. Not like this. Dan’s brain is saying leave. Dan’s feet are taking a step closer to the couch. Dan’s fingers are reaching down, to touch the side of Lucifer’s neck, feeling for a pulse, and damn the devil’s skin is cold, and that is freaking Dan out, because Lucifer runs warm, Dan has always felt that when he was close, so something is very wrong. And then Dan’s kneeling, he lays a hand against Lucifer’s cheek, as his fingers locate a sluggish pulse, and the enormity of what to do, because Lucifer isn’t human, and he can hardly call an ambulance, and this is all too much, but he can’t leave Lucifer to die, and somehow Dan knows that this is what is going to happen if he runs away now and even though Lucifer is the devil, Dan can’t do that.

He can’t do that, because it’s clear as day that Lucifer’s wings have been torn up by bullets, and another revelation, now Dan knows exactly where all the bullets went, where some of them are still.

One stupid, sentimental reason Lucifer Morningstar would let himself be used for target practice, and Daniel Espinoza knows this as surely as night follows day. That Lucifer was protecting Chloe with his wings. 

There’s one reason why Dan’s daughter still has a mother, and that’s Lucifer Bloody Morningstar. The pain in Dan’s ass.

He could walk away. He probably should walk away. But Lucifer is injured, badly, and the feel of his skin, his weak pulse, the damage that’s been done, he’s supposed to be immortal, but he’s vulnerable and Dan cannot turn away.

He gives Lucifer’s shoulder a very gentle shake, the Devil’s head turns slowly, twin slits of chocolate brown gaze blearily at him. The lips move, “Daniel”, it’s so weak, barely above a whisper, and Dan’s hand squeezes his shoulder again.

“Hang on Luce, help’s coming.” No clue where it’s going to be coming from but Dan reaches for his phone. For a second or two he gazes at it. There’s only one person he can really call, but he’s still hesitating, because this is an enormous, momentous thing, and he’s not entirely sure how she will react.

He hits the buttons and presses call. It rings, once, twice, and she answers on the third. He hears her cheerful voice, and knows he’s going to rock her world, and says sorry in his head as he speaks.

“Ella, I need you to come to Lucifer’s place. Now.” He takes a deep breath, and tries to find the words to explain the inexplicable.

“Hurry.”


	2. Daniel Talks to God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan is out of options...

“Okay, so I thought you might want an update on how your son is doing.” Dan feels vaguely foolish, but God is real. So. “I know you’re omniscient and all, but...”

He’s sitting on the couch, they moved Lucifer to his own bed, figuring he would be more comfortable there. “We took the bullets out of his wings,” Dan looks down at his hands, twisting his fingers together, remembering the huge bowl they filled with bullets, and torn and broken feathers that Ella had to yank out with a pair of pliers, “we managed to clean them up, some of those wounds were infected you know.” If his throat felt dry, and his hands were shaking that was only normal right. The normal reaction to a badly injured friend needing care.

“Anyway, he was still so cold, so we tried to warm him up.” Dug through Lucifer’s enormous closets for some warm sleep pants, the wings being still out, then hunted down every blanket they could find, tucked them round him. Ella went out and bought an electric blanket and they rearranged all the blankets again so that they could get that close to his body, cranked it up as high as it would go.

“But he’s still cold.” Dan’s voice shook. “He’s...” He tried again. “He’s...” He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Surged to his feet.

“Look, he’s dying. I’ve done everything I can think of,” he’d begged Chloe to come to see him, to see if that would jump start Lucifer, but she talked about needing space and rang off before Dan could tell her much of anything, and he figured that was shock talking, and it was down to him and Ella. “He’s your son, right? I know he’s a pain in the ass.” Dan smiled, “He’s a pain in my ass too, and I know he’s arrogant, childish and selfish, and has the emotional quotient of a goldfish… but he’s still your son. And I know that he’s not responsible for Charlotte’s death, even though I did blame him, and you should know that he’s not responsible for Marcus Pierce either. That dick did it to himself. Lucifer was only protecting Chloe. Protecting all of us, because Pierce would never have stopped.” Dan paused, “isn’t it kind of ironic, you made the man immortal and he ended up being a bigger threat than he ever was back then?” Not even wondering at his own temerity, because this was Lucifer’s life he was arguing for, and Dan did care. More than he ever believed he would or could.

Or should, for a self-centred man-child angel with issues. An actual, real, live Archangel. Who stole Dan’s puddings from the fridge.

“Look, I know he did all of those things, or may be not, the Bible is kind of vague on the details, but he’s still your son. I can’t sit here and do nothing, I can’t watch him die. So, please… tell me what I need to do to fix this. Perhaps you could send one of his brothers.” Dan clenched his jaw and wiped a hand over his face, wiping away the tears, “because I don’t know what to do, and I can’t lose him. We… can’t lose him. Not like this. Thank you.”

“Dan...” He turned back towards Lucifer’s bedroom, Ella had been keeping watch, giving Dan a break.

“Oh, and why is there a child’s tricycle in his closet?”

 

It was late. Ella had gone home because she needed to be ready for work, bright and early, and Dan still had time off. To process Charlotte’s death, because he was close to his ex-wife and what affected her, affected him too, to try and process…

Process the half-dead, injured archangel (fallen archangel) gigantic pain in Dan Espinoza’s ass. Ha! Process that?

All Dan could feel or process at the moment was a sense of helplessness. They cleaned his wings up, got him into bed, tried to warm him up. Beyond turning him over from time to time, which required both of them, and trying to get a little soup and fluids into him, anything to keep him going, they hadn’t managed much.

Dan looked down at his alarmingly still frenemy. Lucifer’s hair had long lost any product, limp, bedraggled curls flopped over his forehead, his artfully crafted designer stubble had grown into a thick full beard. He looked pale, compared to his normal healthy tan, ill. From time to time, the brown eyes would open a crack, and they would stare at Dan with such pain in their depths it broke Dan’s heart all over again.

Charlotte. He knew Lucifer missed her too. In a weird way, Lucifer was Dan’s connection to Charlotte.

Dan reached out, took Lucifer’s limp cold hand in both of his, “come back to us, man...” The eyes opened a crack, Lucifer’s lips parted, “Daniel...” almost inaudible over the laboured breathing. Dan squeezed his friend’s hand, “Luce...”

SWOOSH.

Dan looked up, startled.

Before him stood… Lucifer… But, Dan stared, not Lucifer. The angel shrugged his shoulders and the wings disappeared. “I’m Michael.” If Dan mentally filled in “please state the nature of your medical emergency” that was not his fault. 

Michael stepped closer to the bed. While Dan’s brain caught up, he kept his grip on Lucifer’s hand. “Hey, weren’t you the one...”

“Who cast Him out of the Silver City.” The accent was the same, the tone more brusque than Lucifer’s usual honeyed delivery.

Dan gathered his thoughts. “Can you help him?” He stood. Like Lucifer, Michael was a good three or four inches taller, but Dan stood his ground “because if you’re here to hurt him...”

“I’ll have to go through you.” The archangel looked amused.

“Yes.” Not thinking of the wider implications here, because damn… Archangel… in the bedroom of another archangel.

To his surprise, Michael nodded. So Dan laid Lucifer’s hand down gently, and stepped aside so that Michael could get a closer look at his brother.

A look of real pain and sorrow crossed the Archangel’s face as he sat down next to his brother on the bed. “Sam...” Michael whispered softly, running a hand through Lucifer’s hair, smoothing it back from his forehead. “I’m so sorry.”

He unfurled his wings, and reaching back plucked some feathers from them.

Dan could only watch and hope, as Michael went about healing his brother’s body.


	3. The Twin Archangels of Trouble and Strife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twins.
> 
> Not a good place to be...

“So… What happened?” Ella is curious. Damn, she has so many questions she’s started to write them all down, because Heaven and Hell are real, so’s God, and he’s Lucifer’s actual Dad. And there’s a second Lucifer, who is called Michael… and he’s Lucifer’s twin… and he looks and sounds sort of like Lucifer, but not.

And really the only way to tell the twins apart is that Lucifer’s wings are white, while Michael’s are jet black.

Dan stared down into his coffee mug, and wished it was something a lot stronger. He tried to piece it all together properly, because it had all happened so damn fast. One minute Lucifer was drifting towards death, the next minute, Michael’s feathers… the one’s he plucked from his own wings, were glowing bright and sinking into Lucifer’s body.

From more than half dead, to wide awake, Lucifer’s wings exploded wide, one flap and he was off the bed, taking Michael by surprise, who recovered quickly, and Dan barely managed to get himself between them before angel apocalypse.

“Angel apocalypse!”

He so wished he hadn’t said that. Ella’s eyes were sparkling. She glanced surreptitiously towards the terrace windows, where Dan could see black feathers, part of a wing, apparently archangels liked to sun themselves.

Michael was on the terrace, and Lucifer was in the shower, grumpy because Dan hadn’t allowed him to try and kill his brother, and even though Michael was clearly sorry for how much his twin had suffered, it didn’t actually mean that he wasn’t going to fight back.

Somehow Dan had managed to get in between them, grabbing hold of the top of Lucifer’s right wing, and forcing a hand onto Michael’s chest. For a microsecond the raw power that beat between two huge, powerful Archangels, God’s most powerful sons, well Dan would have been mincemeat and he knew it.

A noise behind him, and Dan turned on the stool. Lucifer padded towards them, he looked back to his usual put together self. A little paler than usual, but his hair was carefully coiffed, and his beard reduced to his “sexy stubble, darling.”

He looked troubled though, and clearly couldn’t resist a glare in the general direction of the terrace. Dan rolled his eyes. “He saved your life.”

Lucifer’s turn to roll his eyes. “Which does not absolve him from the original act.”

Dan sighed, and waved a hand. “Be my guest.”

“Is this a private argument, or can anyone join in?” Ella’s sparkling eyes turned in the direction of the terrace, and Dan waited for the explosion that never came.

Cool fingers captured his hand, holding it still, as Lucifer stared down at the long cut in the middle of Dan’s palm. Dark brown eyes rose to meet Dan’s grey ones. Lucifer looked like he wanted to throw up, and it was Dan’s turn to grab the devil’s hand as the tall frame swayed for a second.

“I did that.” The statement was flat.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes again, Dan replied “no, I did that when I grabbed hold of your wing.”

“Semantics.”

“Sharp feathers.” Dan’s comeback was pithy. In for a penny, in for a pound, if any of this meant that he was destined for hell, he figured he might as well get his money’s worth now.

The smart remark seemed to mollify Lucifer a little, he looked less stricken at any rate.

The exchange seemed to have prompted Michael to slink a bit closer. Ella had shrunk back against the bar, as she watched the twins interact. Dan could tell she had her science head on and was hoping for some stunning insights into archangel behaviour, inwardly he sighed. Ever since she’d returned to the loft it had been a see-saw between science and faith. Right now, science was really whupping faith’s butt.

“If I could just get some tissue samples, feathers...”

Dan swore, also inwardly. “Ella. No.” He said firmly.

“They’re really old, they’ve been around since before time.” She seemed enchanted with the idea, and truth, Dan couldn’t really blame her. But they did need to keep this under wraps, because proof of all of this had the potential to be an enormous problem for all of the humans in Lucifer’s life.

Humans. Dan’s eyes widened as he realised his daughter’s best friend… Holy…

“Brother.” Said Michael.

“Don’t call me that.” Snapped Lucifer, but it seemed more out of habit than real anger. He was still holding Dan’s hand, gently in both of his, something that Dan found curiously comforting. Calmly, Lucifer took a hand away, unfurling his wings as he did so, barely missing a lamp, and sweeping two books to the floor, he reached back and plucked a feather from near his shoulder, and laid it on the palm of Dan’s hand. It rested there, then glowed so bright, sinking into his skin it disappeared, taking with it the cut on Dan’s palm.

Dan looked surprised. He looked up, dark brown eyes stared back at him, confusion in their depths. Used to an inappropriate quip or some off-colour remarks, Dan felt the tug of confused emotions himself. He pulled back a little, Lucifer let go of his hand, and Dan was grateful for the silence. Which did not explain why he felt bereft when Lucifer furled his wings and moved behind the bar to serve himself a drink.

Dan sat back down on his bar stool, a bottle appeared in front of him and he reached for it, mechanically, barely aware that it was his favourite until he took a sip.

It was several more sips before he registered that Michael had served himself from some of Lucifer’s top shelf whisky, and made himself comfortable on Lucifer’s large leather couch.

A fact that Lucifer only just seemed to realise. “So, shall we say our goodbyes now, … brother.” Lucifer gritted his teeth. “You can toddle off, so charmed to see you after all this time, we can catch up…. When… the 12th of Never good for you, No? Never mind, just don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.”

Michael grinned evilly. “No rush, brother. Think I’ll stick around. See the sights.”

And here we go again, thought Dan, as he leapt forward to grab Lucifer who vaulted over the bar and flung himself at his brother. 

“ELLA!!” Dan grabbed hold of a wing, and hung on… “A LITTLE HELP. IF IT’S NOT TOO MUCH TROUBLE!!”


End file.
